BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's basketball team hosted reining Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) champions, University of New England (UNE) on Thursday evening for their second matchup of the season. Following a 17 point effort from junior Kelsey Cuddy (Madison, Conn.) the Gulls claimed their first victory over UNE since 2012 with a 60-58 final. With the triumph, Endicott handed the Nor'easters their first CCC loss of the season which marked just the second conference loss in three seasons for UNE. Endicott improves to 8-9 (4-6 CCC) while the Nor'easters drop to 14-14 (10-1 CCC).
Endicott will take the court next on Saturday, January 31st as they travel across town to North Shore rival and CCC foe Gordon for a 1:00 p.m. tip-off. The Nor'easters will also hit the court next on Saturday as they travel to CCC opponent Eastern Nazarene for a 1:00 p.m. start time.
Endicott was on fire from start to finish as they posted an impressive 47.9% mark from the field while shooting 12-of-15 (80%) from the charity stripe. The Blue and Green played tough defense holding the Nor'easters to 39% shooting from the field and 63.4% from the free throw line. UNE did catch up with their 5-of-19 (26.3%) from long range, led by 2-of-5 from junior Meghan Gribbin (Windham, Maine).
Defensively Cuddy posted an impressive six steals, three blocks and nine boards, seven being defensive. For the Nor'easters Gribbin answered back with five steals of her own while sophomore Alicia Brown (Greenland, N.H.) added three blocks. With the help of 15 points from senior Kayleen Whall (Foxboro, Mass.) and 10 from rookie Hannah Shaw (Bar Harbor, Maine) the Blue and Green owned 34 points in the paint the UNE's 26.
The first half was an absolute battle as the Gulls worked both sides of the ball to not allow the Nor'easters to take the lead at any point. In the first half alone, Cuddy put up nine points, eight boards, and three steals to help give the Gulls a 10 point advantage. Whall followed with 11 points while Shaw and junior Nicole Catizone (Woburn, Mass.) each hit five.
For the Nor'easters, Brown kept UNE in the game with her 11 point effort while junior Alanna Vose (Cushing, Maine) recorded three boards in the half. In the final minutes of the half Brown hit four jumpers while senior Kelly Coleman (Portland, Maine) scored in the paint to give the Nor'easters a spark before halftime as the Gulls led 31-21.
In the second half the Blue and Green continued to fight the conference rivals, by not allowing them to take the lead in the second 20 minutes of play. Despite the Nor'easters claiming the second half, 37-29, on the scoreboard, the Gulls worked their offensive game to keep momentum with eight points each from Cuddy and Catizone.
Endicott picked up their game from the field shooting an impressive 50% while holding the Nor'easters to 45.2%, however UNE worked the three point arc scoring 3-of-9 while the Gulls were held to 0-6, led by Gribbin who went 2-of-3 from long-range. Both sides were strong from the free throw line each shooting 75%, led by a perfect 2-of-2 from Whall and 2-of-2 from Brown.
In the final minutes of play the Nor'easters worked to catch up as they made a strong run as Coleman put up six points, but the efforts were not enough as Endicott held strong.
For Endicott the final minute of the game was highlighted by Cuddy and senior Katelyn Wright (Sudbury, Mass.) who made a strong fast-break play to the basket that ended in Wright dishing the ball to Cuddy under the basket for a layup that forced a two possession game and the eventual 60-58 victory.
